Locks
by PorcelainDoll304
Summary: Kevin's 'daughter' pushes him and Ben together. Bevin, multi-chaptered.
1. The Lock

**Title:** Locks

**Rating:** K

**Genre:** Friendship/Hurt/Comfort

**Pairing:** None

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**A/N: Just for reference, Laine is about ten, Kevin is eighteen, Elena, Gwen, and Ben are seventeen, and Julie and Cooper are sixteen. I have no idea how old Grandpa Max is so I'm not going to go there. I'm not sure they'll all even appear in the story, but those are the ages I consider them being nonetheless.**

**I couldn't decide who should narrate the story, so I'm going between POVs. When it changes, the character's name will be in italics in between page breaks.**

**-------**

**-------**

_Laine_

_-------_

The alarm went off at seven o'clock that morning. I know because I was already awake, watching the clock, waiting for the numbers to change. Kevin has the alarm set to 'radio', so when the alarm goes off, 89X plays.

When the radio played "Don't Talk to Strangers" by Hedley to wake me up, I knew it was going to be a good day.

Turning off the alarm, I climbed out of bed and walked into the living room. Kevin was folding up the blanket he used when he slept on the couch and placing it on the back of the couch. He heard my footsteps on the wood floor and turned around.

"Hey, Lainey!" he grinned, scooping me up into his arms effortlessly, as if my weight were that of a feather. He spun me around twice before setting me down on the couch.

"You excited for school, squirt?"

"Sure am!" I grinned. It was the first day back after winter break, the first time I was going off to school since Kevin got me. It was the first time that I was going to public school, the first time I wasn't attending a boarding school, and in truth, I was far more nervous than excited, but I didn't want Kevin to worry. I could hear the TV when I woke up last night at four in the morning. Kevin was already worried, possibly even terrified, and I didn't want to add to that.

"Well, great, you should be. School is awesome."

"You told me you never went to school."

"Which is why I'm so jealous of you, squirt!" Kevin tickled me on the couch until I begged for mercy, at which point he kissed me on the forehead and carried me into the kitchen.

"I got some bacon," Kevin announced, holding up the package of bacon as though it were a trophy, making me laugh.

"Don't you have to cook bacon?" I queried. We don't have a stove in our apartment, which made cooking anything a real problem.

"Nope. This kind you just stick in the microwave." We did indeed have a microwave, probably because it was pretty much impossible to eat even leftovers without one.

"Then I definitely want bacon!" I exclaimed. Wow. Bacon and "Don't Talk to Strangers" all within ten minutes? This really was the best day ever! Kevin stuck the bacon in the microwave and in five minutes, it was ready to eat. Between the two of us, we ate an entire package of twenty bacon strips. Kevin tried to make me eat most of them, but I wanted him to eat too, so we agreed that we'd each eat ten, although I seriously think Kevin slipped me a few extra strips when I was watching TV.

The doorbell rang just as I was going back to our room to get dressed for school.

"Who is it?" I called, since Kevin was still in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast and I was right by the door.

"Ben," a voice answered. I squealed and jumped up to unlock the door, tugging it open. Ben picked me up with a bit more effort than Kevin had just as Kevin entered the room.

"Ben," Kevin exclaimed, sounding like he hadn't seen him in years even though we'd hung out all day yesterday along with Gwen and Elena.

"Hey, Kev. I got your call. Is everything okay?" Ben sounded worried. Was everyone worried today?

"Yeah, yeah. I just need to talk to you for a sec, nothing major. Hey, Lainey, go on and get dressed, okay?" Kevin smiled. Ben set me back down on the floor. I was about to go when a thought occurred to me.

"You're not talking about hero stuff, are you, Kev?" I asked. Now I was even worried.

"No, no, of course not. I'd tell you about that. We just have to talk about some guy stuff," Kevin grinned. "Teenaged guy stuff. Probably would gross you out."

I wrinkled up my nose in disgust, pretended to throw up, turned on my heel and ran down the hall to my room.

Something was definitely wrong. Kevin didn't even smile.

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_Ben_

_-------_

"I can't do this," Kevin exclaimed the second we heard the bedroom door close.

"Can't do what?"

A tortured look came over Kevin's features. "I can't send her off to school. Not after what happened to me. And look at you! You were normal and other kids would torture you. Imagine what they'll do to her! I can't even think about it without having a panic attack."

My heart broke a little at the sight of Kevin like this. "Kev, Kev, relax, okay? Here, have a seat." I guided him to the couch. "Kev, she's been to school before."

"Ben, when the Plumbers found her she was tied to the flagpole in her underwear. Teachers were walking past her without saying a word." A glimmer of pain went across Kevin's face, like it physically hurt to recall this information. I rested a hopefully comforting hand on his shoulder and he looked at me. There was genuine terror in his coal-colored eyes. It was amazing how someone who had fought D. who were nearly successful in ending humanity without blinking an eye could be brought to this state by something as simple as sending the kid he now had legal guardianship of to school.

He was like a worried mother, and it was seriously touching.

"And the worst part is, she's scared, too, but she's acting all calm about it to keep _me _from worrying. She's trying to protect _me._"

"That's so sweet," I gushed, and Kevin nodded grimly.

"Cavity-inducing," Kevin agreed, and I was happy to see that there was an edge of sarcasm in his voice. He was recovering.

"When I first went to kindergarten, I was scared out of my mind. But my mother gave me this little stone to remind me of her. She told me that if I kept it in my pocket, I'd be with her. And it really helped," I explained.

"So you think I should give her something to remind her of me?" Kevin queried.

"Yeah. Just, like, a little rock or something," I encouraged.

An idea seemed to visibly form in Kevin's head. "I know just the thing."

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_Laine_

_--------_

It took me quite a while to decide on an outfit for school. All of my favorite clothes were summer clothes – shorts, tank tops, and that kind of stuff – so my favorite outfit wasn't an option. Finally, I decided on a long-sleeved t-shirt in my favorite color, green, and a pair of faded blue jeans. With this outfit, I tugged on the grey boots that Gwen had bought me for my Christmas present and I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. A ponytail made the streaks of blue and purple seem almost artistic, like they're supposed to be there. When my hair is just down, they just look weird. Finally, I put my grandfather's Plumbers badge around my neck on a ribbon and smiled at myself in the mirror.

A knock came at the door. "Who is it?" I called out.

"Kevin," a voice replied. "Are you dressed?"

"Yep!" I answered, running over and tugging the door open. Kevin stood there with something faintly shiny in his hand. He was turning it over in his palms, staring down at it.

"What's that?" I queried, and Kevin smiled.

"You're ruining my dramatic effect, Lainey," he grinned, and together we sat down on the unmade bed, formerly his, currently mine. He showed me the object in his hand. It was an old-fashioned silver padlock, the kind without numbers, the kind you use a key for.

"I wore this every day when I was your age. I thought it was my lucky charm. I found it in the park and I thought it was destined to be mine. Maybe it was." He pondered this for a moment before continuing. "Whenever I got scared, I would hold onto it so tight my hand would ache, but I'd keep squeezing and squeezing, trying to squeeze the magic out to help me. And there were times, Lainey, that I would swear to you that it worked."

"That's so cool!" I squealed. "Can I hold it?"

"Not only can you hold it, I want you to have it. I stopped wearing it when I was about fourteen. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it, though. It's been kept many places – the glove box of my car, my pocket, my dresser. I think it wants to be worn again, but if you want to just keep it in your pocket, that's alright, too."

"Are you kidding? Of course I'll wear it. It's magical!" I exclaimed. How cool was this? My first day back to school and Kevin gives me a magical lock. A grin split Kevin's face and he took the long cord that it sat on and slipped it over my head, letting it rest around my neck. It was heavy, and somehow that was reassuring.

"It looks great on you."

"I love it, Kevin. Thank you!" I threw my arms around him and he held me close, burying his face in my hair and inhaling deeply.

"As long as you wear that, I'll be with you, okay?" Kevin murmured, his voice slightly muffled.

"Okay," I agreed.

"Kev, she's got to go or she'll be late," Ben called from the doorway. "And for that matter, you've got to get to work, too."

"He's right," I remarked, checking the time on the clock. "C'mon, it's our first day back. We can't be late!"

"Alright," Kevin agreed, hopping off the bed and taking my hand. "C'mon, we'll take Ben's car."

"Can I sit shotgun?" I queried.

"Alright," Kevin agreed. "But I'm driving."

"No, I am," Ben corrected playfully, dangling the keys in front of Kevin's face before darting off down the hallway. Kevin scooped me up and ran after him. I squealed. Once we were in the hallway of the apartment complex, Kevin set me down and tackled Ben. They wrestled, laughing, until Kevin grabbed the keys, untangled his limbs from Ben's, and raced down the stairs.

"C'mon, Laine, we'll take the elevator!" Ben grinned, and I followed him in and pushed the 'Lobby' button. We were practically jumping up and down from excitement as we rode down to the lobby and nearly knocked two people over as we dashed outside after Kevin, who was already sitting in the driver's seat.

"Beat ya," Kevin smirked as Ben climbed into the back seat.

"I call a rematch," Ben good-naturedly replied. I put in my 'Guster' CD and turned it up until the windows shook. Kevin grinned at me.

"She is _so _your kid," Ben laughed, and Kevin lit up like a Christmas tree.


	2. Subtle Flirting

**Title:** Locks

**Rating:** K

**Genre:** Romance/Family

**Pairing:** None

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Kevin

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I tried to throw myself into working on the car. It was a nice car, this cherry red sports car, with only a minor problem that probably could have been fixed at home rather than paying a mechanic, not that I was complaining since that mechanic happened to be me. It belonged to a fairly pretty blonde who had a habit of walking by in short skirts while I was underneath the car. She called the car 'Arnold' and almost burst into tears each time she left it. I wanted to ask her questions, see if she was really into cars or just this particular car, show off the Camaro I'd rebuilt myself, but she never stuck around long and I'd resigned myself to the fact that she wasn't my type anyway, not really.

Ben came by after he finished school with two smoothies and kept me company. He came by a lot, not just here but at the apartment, too, and Laine and I spent quite a bit of time at his place as well. He, unlike most people, didn't constantly check to see if I was paying enough attention to them and wasn't at all put off by having to talk to someone who had the conversation from underneath a vehicle.

"Is it three-thirty yet?" I kept asking, and Ben kept telling me no, giving me a time that seemed way too early for the amount of time it felt like I'd spent here.

Finally I finished the car and sat down next to Ben on the workbench, sipping a delicious berry smoothie and trying to forget my problems by talking to Ben, which was surprisingly easy. Ben could take anything and turn it into an interesting conversation, which I appreciated.

Despite the fact that there was snow outside, it was ridiculously hot inside the garage and I stripped off both of my shirts, leaning against the wall.

"Do you want to go outside?" Ben queried.

"Can't. Promised Ed I'd watch the garage while he was gone," I replied, taking another long drink of the berry smoothie. After a moment I realized that Ben was staring at me.

"What?" I demanded, and when he didn't reply, I shoved him. He jumped, startled, and shook his head.

"Nothing," Ben answered. "It's nothing. So are you and Laine planning on doing anything tonight?"

"I was thinking of watching a movie or something and letting her eat all of the ice cream in the fridge, but that's just an idea," I answered with a shrug. Ben laughed until he almost fell off the workbench, would've fallen off if I hadn't caught him by the arm, tugging him back.

"God, it is hot in here," Ben groaned after a moment of silence, tugging off his top shirt and tossing it to the ground, leaning back against the wall.

"I think the heater's about to explode or something," I grimaced. "I've been trying to turn it down all day, but it's not doing a thing."

"Great," Ben sarcastically muttered. "You can't fix it?"

"Only if by 'fix', you mean smash to pieces. I fix cars. That's about it." Ben laughed again and I shot him a wary glance. He managed to stay on the bench this time, so I allowed myself a laugh, too.

"You're welcome to join us, if you want, Benji," I offered after another moment of silence. Ben glanced over at me.

"Are you sure you don't want it to be just, like, a family thing?" Ben queried, and I shrugged.

"It's Lainey's night, and she loves you. She'd love to have you there."

"What about you? Do you want me there?"

I glanced at him, lifting an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I wouldn't invite you if I didn't want you there."

"Okay," Ben shrugged, but I could tell there was something on his mind, something he didn't want to tell me.

"What's up with you?" I asked, not harshly.

"There's a lot up with me," Ben grinned, laughing, and I laughed too even though I felt like pressuring him to tell me. I wasn't in the mood to make him mad, didn't want to be left here alone.

"You should really put a shirt on," Ben decided, poking me in the chest.

"Why? It's just us."

"Because it's sort of awkward, sitting next to someone with no shirt on. Especially in January."

I shot him a huge grin. He really shouldn't have said that. "Oh, so you're uncomfortable, then?"

"Yeah," Ben answered, grinning back. He knew my every game. You would think that would make it less enjoyable, but he always played into them just as much as I did. I tackled him and we rolled onto the floor about a foot down, wincing as we collided with the concrete but immediately wrestling in the small space between the workbench and the car. I pinned him and grinned.

"Does this make you uncomfortable, Benji?" I asked, and he laughed, shoving at me, wrapping his legs around my waist and trying to flip me over. I let him win if only for the chance to flip him over again, and we wrestled for a few more minutes before he firmly pinned me, his knees on each side of my waist, hands pinning my arms to the ground.

"There. That's better," Ben smirked, his face inches from mine, and I suddenly had a strange feeling, one that started in the pit of my stomach, warming me from head to toe.

I very suddenly wanted to kiss Ben.

This was surprising, yes, but not the first time. It was just as confusing as ever. Before Ben, I had never had a best friend before, so I wasn't sure whether having the sudden urge to kiss him was normal. I never had these urges towards, say, Gwen or Elena, my other two closest friends, only Ben. I had no idea what made Ben so exclusive, only that it seriously confused me and was very awkward.

Ben noticed my lack in movement or response and he released my arms, backing away from me a bit before standing up and offering me a hand. I took it and let him pull me to my feet.

"You okay?" Ben asked, and I shrugged.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I replied. Ed walked in then.

"You can go, Kev. Thanks for all your help," Ed remarked. I handed him the keys to the cherry red sports car and tugged my shirts and jacket back on, handing Ben his jacket as we walked out the door.

"Hey, Kev," Ben remarked, "it's three-thirty."

I cheered and ran to the car, slipping on the ice and falling hard on my butt. Ben, naturally, burst into laughter and ran over to help me up, falling down right beside me.


	3. The Premiere of Darkstar

**Title:** Locks

**Rating:** T

**Genre:** Romance/Family

**Pairing:** None

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_Laine_

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I sat in the classroom with my teacher, a man not much older than Kevin named Mr. Montez, for about twenty minutes after being dropped off until the other kids arrived on buses. I was painfully aware that they all looked at me as they filed in. I tried to tell myself it was because I was a new face, not because of my strange appearance, but I tried to tuck the blue and purple pieces of hair further into my ponytail anyway. Nobody spoke to me, sitting on the other side of the room, only sitting anywhere near me when there were no other seats.

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. Her name is Laine Tean; she's sitting right up here in the green shirt," Mr. Montez smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder as he addressed the class. I heard some whispering but couldn't make out any words. I was very happy he didn't try to make me introduce myself, instead he handed me an English book and told us to turn to page 675. This I could handle. I'd always loved English. After English came Math, which I hated, but it still gave me something else to think about than the glances that came my way every few minutes. After Math, however, came lunch.

"Do we have to sit with our class?" I asked as we filed out of the classroom.

"No, you can sit with anyone," Mr. Montez answered, and I sighed. So nobody would be forced to sit with me. Looked like I'd be sitting alone.

I took out the lunch that Kevin had packed for me and sat down at an empty table. After a few minutes, a girl sat down beside me.

"Hi," the girl smiled. "My name's Laurel."

"I'm Laine," I replied nervously. Laurel was very pretty, with curly black hair with no colors and eyes that were both the exact same color, a dark shade of brown.

"Laurel and Laine. We could be a music group," Laurel grinned. "So I hear you're new. Is that true?"

"Yes," I answered, still not quite meeting her eyes. When was she going to say something mean? Right now, she was being very nice. Was she trying to make it hurt even more when she said something mean?

"Freaks!" somebody yelled, and I blushed, ducking my head. Laurel shook her head.

"Don't do that. You've got to look at them right back. Here, I'll show you," Laurel remarked, and I watched as she stood up and stared down the person who'd made the remark.

"Sorry," the boy finally muttered, and with a huge grin, Laurel sat down and put an arm around me.

"I like you, Laine," she smiled.

"You don't know me. Have you looked at me?" I sadly insisted, pointing at my eyes and grasping a blue strand of hair.

"Yeah, and you're really cool-looking," Laurel answered. "And if anybody doesn't think so, they can talk to me, okay?"

"Laurel, you're only going to be made fun of. I don't want you to get made fun of because of me," I told her, close to tears. Laurel kissed me on the cheek and I jumped, looking at her with wide eyes. A lot of people were staring at us.

"Oh, sweetie, don't you worry about me. I don't care what people say about me, not one bit, and you shouldn't, either. Whose class are you in?"

"Mr. Montez," I answered, smiling at her. Did I just make a friend?

"Really? I'm in Mrs. Montez's class. She used to be Miss Adams until she married Mr. Montez last year. Their classes do lots of stuff together, like reading buddies. Oh, hey, you know, my reading buddy moved away before Christmas break. You could be my reading buddy!"

"I love reading," I admitted.

"Oh, me too, but I'm no good. Maybe you can help me," Laurel sheepishly stated. "If you want to, that is. You don't have to."

"Of course I'll help you!" I practically yelled. I made a friend! I made a friend! Laurel laughed, but not meanly.

"Well, if you really want to help me, you'll give me half of that cookie you've got in your lunch there. I forgot my lunch money at home and I didn't bring a lunch, and I'm about ready to keel over from starvation," Laurel winked, and I laughed.

"You can have all of it, I don't like oatmeal raisin. I was just going to throw it away," I replied, and Laurel lit up.

"Really? Oh, you're the best, Laine!" Laurel squealed, reaching over and hugging me. I had never hugged someone my own size before, but I awkwardly reached around and gave Laurel the best hug I could muster. It wasn't so different from hugging Kevin, Ben, Elena, or Gwen; Laurel was just smaller and actually a bit easier to get my arms around.

"Oh, lunch is over. But hey, all fifth graders have third recess. I'll meet you by the swings, okay?"

"Okay!" I answered, throwing away my trash and watching as Laurel left, admiring her blue jean dress with orange lace trim.

"This way, Laine," Mr. Montez guided me towards the lunchroom doors.

For once, school wasn't so bad. I was downright cheerful as we worked through social studies and science. Third recess happened at the end of the day, so we got to play on the playground until our rides got here. I sprinted out the door with my coat and backpack the second the bell rang, racing over to the swings. Laurel stood there with a huge grin on her face.

"Where's your jacket?" I asked, noticing that she wasn't wearing one.

"Oh, my mom said I didn't need one," Laurel replied. Wow. Her mom must be so amazing. Kevin always makes me wear my jacket when it's snowing. We took turns pushing each other on the swings until her mom showed up to get her. Her mom looked just like her except older and with makeup. She was pretty just like Laurel. I was sad that Laurel didn't get to meet Kevin, but the sadness didn't last long because I remembered that I made a friend on my first day of school. I was at that boarding school for months and months and I never made one single friend. Maybe Kevin was right, public school really was cool.

Once Kevin pulled up, I ran over to the car and climbed right in onto his lap. Ben was driving. Both of them were laughing when I got in.

"What's so funny?" I queried.

"Kevin fell on his butt on the ice," Ben replied.

"So did you," Kevin good-naturedly retorted.

"Why aren't you driving?" I asked as the cars behind us began to honk.

"Because you're sitting on Kevin's lap," Ben answered, and when I still looked confused he continued, "that's not exactly safe."

"I'll hold onto her," Kevin insisted, wrapping his arms around my middle. Ben rolled his eyes but drove the car out of the parking lot anyway. After a few minutes, Kevin and I realized at the same time that Ben was going the wrong way.

"Where are you going, Ben?" I asked.

"We're supposed to go to my place," Kevin continued.

"Change in plan," Ben smirked, turning down his own road and pulling into the driveway. I saw Elena's motorcycle and gave Ben a confused glance.

"Go on inside," Ben grinned, and I hopped off Kevin's lap, grabbing his hand and taking him with me as I entered Ben's house.

"Happy first day of school, Laine!" Gwen greeted me as I walked in the door. Elena, Julie, and Cooper were all sitting on the couch and waved to us as we walked in.

"You threw a party for me?" I asked Ben as he walked in.

"Couldn't let this special day pass without one," Ben shrugged, and then laughed as I threw my arms around him in a hug.

"Oh," Gwen remarked, spotting the lock around my neck and immediately glancing at Kevin, who shrugged. Cooper broke the awkward moment by putting on the Sumo Slammers video game and beckoning me over.

"I rule at this game," I grinned as Elena joined us, grabbing the other controller and plugging it in, choosing her sumo wrestler but knowing just as much as Cooper not to pick the green one, my favorite.

I had thought this would be the best day ever. So far, it had been.

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_Kevin_

_--------_

"You are seriously the best," I gushed, and Ben rolled his eyes.

"Please. You sound like you could be my girlfriend," Ben teased.

"Yeah, and that's my job," Julie grinned, walking over and locking her fingers with Ben's. Ben jumped in surprise, and I felt a warm spot in the pit of my stomach. This was no touchy-feely crap like in the garage. This was pure anger. I found myself feeling it quite a bit whenever Julie came around Ben.

Score one for becoming the jealous girlfriend.

"Well, you can keep it," I awkwardly replied, and Julie's ever-present smile widened. A flicker of something went across Ben's face and he turned to Julie, beginning a conversation about how soccer and tennis shared a lot of key elements.

Or something equally as vomit inducing.

"Kevin," Gwen called out, and I, happy to leave this scene, walked into Ben's kitchen with her.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Well, I was wondering when Laine and I could resume our training. We'd gotten into a habit of channeling our energy before bed, but since she's living with you now that's obviously changed."

Alright, quick explanation here: Laine is half-alien. Nobody, including the Plumbers, is quite sure quite what alien that might be, but it screwed with her DNA and that's why she looks kinda…well, odd. And from the blood tests they took, it's messed with her blood. It did a lot of chemical things, but the main thing is that her blood is purplish-blue, not red. And aside from _that, _she's got some alien superpowers. Well, Gwen opposes to calling them that since what it actually happens to be is that she has a strong magnetic charge, a ton of magnetic energy in sort of a constant force field around her. When she concentrates, she can force all of that magnetic energy onto one spot, which has some wicked effects, the main one of this is something like telekinesis except that she can only bring objects to herself. The coolest thing of all is that she can mess with people's brainwaves to make them sort of magnetized to her. They don't actually move, but it makes them want to please her, to make her happy. Now, I know you're thinking 'Well, why doesn't she just use all of that all of the time and be the happiest kid on Earth?' Well, the major thing is that she can only keep that hold for ten minutes, after which her powers don't work for half an hour. And she can't magnetize anybody but full humans, which means that Gwen and I are completely exempt from it.

So long story short, when the Plumbers found her, they sort of assigned Gwen as her mentor to help her focus that energy and 'do some good' with it. And that was like giving us unwritten permission to use her in fights. It's pretty easy to defeat a guy who's bound in servitude to a ten-year-old, after all, even if it only gives us a ten-minute span. And it makes Laine happier than anything to play superhero with real supervillains.

It also reminds us all how fast we had to grow up. Sometimes looking the embodiment of childhood in the face is a bit jarring.

"Soon," I promised. Gwen frowned. "This weekend. I'll drop her off after breakfast on Saturday."

"I can feed her breakfast," Gwen insisted.

"I know you _can, _but we always eat breakfast while watching Saturday morning cartoons on TV. It's our tradition," I admitted sheepishly, and Gwen grinned.

"She's turned you into such a softie, Kev. I've never seen you so committed to anything, not even your life of crime."

I laughed. "I'll bet you never imagined that ruffian kid growing up to be raising a ten-year-old at eighteen."

"I'll admit that that wasn't exactly the first thing that came to mind," Gwen replied, grinning. "Oh, god, looks like I'm going to have to save Ben from Julie again."

I glanced across the room, knowing full well I'd regret it, and saw that Julie and Ben had migrated to the couch, and Julie was now lying with her head in Ben's lap, smiling sweetly. I'd never seen Ben look so uncomfortable.

"I'll do the honors," I answered, but Gwen stopped me.

"Please don't tease him about this. He's really sensitive, you know," Gwen pleaded, and I sighed.

"I won't, alright? I'll just say I need him for something about his car. Julie will go running at the first sound of the word 'car', and he'll be free," I promised. Gwen sighed.

"Alright, then, go," she agreed finally, releasing me. I ruffled Laine's hair as I walked by her, and she smiled up at me, and then frowned upon seeing Ben and Julie. I shook my head, telling her silently not to say anything, and she returned to her game.

"Ben, I think something's wrong with your car," I began.

"Oh, please, that thing's stronger than a racehorse. There's nothing wrong with it," Julie insisted, rolling her eyes.

"No, really, Kev doesn't joke about cars," Ben replied, attempting to gently move her off his lap and pull a worried look.

"Since when is 'Kev'? Since when are you two all buddy-buddy?" Julie demanded, not budging. "You don't remember how mean he used to be to you?"

"Julie, we're older now. And I really need to go check out my car," Ben insisted. Julie crossed her arms over her chest but let him go.

"I owe you one," Ben muttered as we walked towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Laine called from the floor.

"Just to check on something, Lainey. We'll be back soon," I assured her, and she nodded.

"Cooper, that's cheating!" Laine wailed as we went out the door, and Ben and I both burst into laughter as we realized that Cooper had technokenetically moved the controllers out of Laine and Elena's reaches. Elena looked about ready to pound the pasty blond, who was throwing his hands up in defeat. The door closed just in time to see the controllers fall back into the girls' hands before it did.

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Ben

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"So my car's okay, right?" I asked as we sat down on the hood of it. I was almost certain it was, it had been running fine all day, but I had to make sure.

"Yeah, just looked like you needed some help back there," Kevin replied, running his hands through his hair. I had to admit, he looked quite handsome in this light. Hell, he looked quite handsome in _any _light. The scene at the garage had been more than awkward, and his obliviousness that his shirtless chest had genuinely been more than a bit of a turn-on only added to his overwhelming appeal.

I guess it's time to come clean. I'd been crushing on Kevin for months, maybe even _years. _I wasn't quite sure whether the infatuation I'd had with him at ten could be considered a crush, but ever since he'd returned from the Null Void, I'd been squirming and blushing under his smoldering gaze.

"I did," I agreed, trying to take my mind off the fact that we were very close together, his hand only inches from mine on the hood of my car, his shoulder almost brushing mine. "God, we broke up almost three years ago and she's _still _after me."

"Well, you are quite a catch, Benji," Kevin grinned, and I blushed. I was usually able to nail his sarcasm by the tone alone, but I was completely lost on whether he was serious or kidding, so I just sort of squirmed awkwardly on the hood and tried to change the subject.

Thankfully, I didn't have to, because his Plumber's badge beeped in his pocket. He tugged it out and groaned.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Darkstar," he answered, and I groaned, too. Darkstar was more of a nuisance than any sort of threat now, but try explaining that to the citizens he had a habit of terrifying every few weeks.

"Should we take Gwen, Elena, and Laine?" I queried.

"Just Laine. Not that we need her, really, but she'd hate being left out," he replied. "You start the car, I'll go grab her."

"Got it." I climbed into the driver's seat. Within a few moments, Kevin and Laine came running out, and we pulled out of the driveway.

"Julie's not too happy that you're leaving," Laine announced.

"I told her not to tell you that," Kevin grumbled, scowling at Laine affectionately, and I laughed.

"Julie's never really happy. Don't worry about it," I assured Laine, and she giggled behind her hand and didn't stop until we arrived at gate of the sawmill.

------------

Darkstar

-----------

I could feel my skin filling out on my face, growing brighter, the energy sizzling around me, crackling softly. Music to my ears.

The masculine voice that taunted me from the doorway, however, was more like fingernails on a chainsaw.

"Really, Darkstar? Didn't think even you'd stoop quite _this _low," the voice called, and I peered down at them. I noticed that half of their group was missing, and they had one extra, a small one, probably only about eight or nine, possibly ten.

"Where are lovely Gwen and the feisty but beautiful Elena?" I queried.

"They grew bored of you. Guess even that pretty, sunken-in face can grow tiring after a while," the one with the metallic arms smirked. How I longed to wipe that smirk off his face, but I couldn't be bothered, not with this energy sizzling through me, recently sucked from all of the workers at the sawmill.

"Enough bickering. Kevin, take him down," the one with the fancy watch ordered.

"I want to do something, too," the small one wailed. Its voice was high-pitched and grated on my eardrums, but there was something almost…intoxicating about it. I was so enthralled that I didn't have time to move before a metal hand hit me, knocking me to the ground and out of the energy. I groaned as my face sunk in again, the energy leaving me.

"I've got him," Metallic Arms announced, grabbing my arms so forcefully behind my back that he nearly dislocated my shoulders. I cried out.

"Don't hurt him, Kev," Fancy Watch ordered, but there was amusement in his voice. He also enjoyed my pain.

"Laine, make him come quietly," Ben ordered.

"Got it," Small agreed, and she came over to me. Upon closer inspection, I saw Plephorite features; the mismatched eyes, the multicolored hair. The Plephorite was a rare breed indeed, and I was surprised to see that one had procreated with a human. I'd always considered them above that.

"Watch my eyes," Small ordered, and I found myself staring into them. The blue eye went purple. The purple eye went blue. They switched back and then back again. I felt dizzy but I couldn't stop watching. It was spectacular.

Then, the want came over me unexpectedly. I felt a yearning for her. I needed her. Her beautiful energy flowing through me…

"Give her to me!" I snarled, breaking free of the metallic hold that Metallic Arms had on me. The shocked face of the small child registered only slightly in my mind as something bad. I grasped her shoulders and attempted to suck the energy out of her. I groaned as I was hit over the head with a large pipe, staggering away from the child.

"Don't you touch her!" Metallic Arms shouted, his rage causing his breathing to be heavy. He was about to strike me again when the one with the fancy watch stopped him.

"The police are here. I don't want them taking you, too," he evenly stated. Metallic Arms dropped the pipe, and his arms returned to flesh as he picked up the child who was visibly shaken.

The police took me away and I never took my eyes off the child. I wanted her. I _needed _her.

I would have her soon. I promised myself that.


End file.
